Front Panel Audio Connectors Question

[DMB06]

Hello,

I'm about to list my old PC for sale on eBay, but I'd like to fix one thing before I do so. For the longest time the front panel audio connectors have been disconnected, I bought this computer from a friend a few years ago and he never hooked them up, I spent a short amount of time trying to figure it out and ultimately never did either.

I don't want to list this computer and have to say the audio connectors MIGHT work, so I'm hoping someone here can help me out.

I have an older motherboard, the ASUS M4A88T-M. I have no clue what kind of case I have, it's not marked any where and like I said I didn't buy it originally.

There are five small connectors for the front panel audio, they are:

1. SPK GRD
2. MIC GRD
3. R-RET
4. L-RET
5. MIC-IN

In the manual for my MOBO, in the Front Panel Audio connection section, it's labeled "10-1 PIN AAFP", with PIN 1 being the bottom left most pin. Here is how the two rows of pins are labeled, from left to right.

GND - Presence# - Sense1_Retur - No Pin - Sense2_Retur
Port1 L - Port1 R - Port2 R - Sense_Send - Port2 L


I don't know where the five connectors are supposed to go, that's why I'm here. Months ago I gave this a whirl and couldn't figure it out, I've only built one PC in my life and for the front audio portion of the build an adapter was included that was labeled perfectly....even I couldn't mess that up.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Slavegamer]

I am not 100% sure but I think that hookup is optional for a connection to onboard sound from the mobo or to the sound card. If you have working audio from the I/O on the mobo I would not stress. Often times those lead's when connected pick up interference from other components. I know most people dont use the front audio ports for that reason, unless the lead is well insulated and can provide a alternative to the soundcard or onboard mobo audio jacks.
So all in all it looks like a digital input, and unless the mobo or sound card has support for that its useless

 

[DMB06]

I am not 100% sure but I think that hookup is optional for a connection to onboard sound from the mobo or to the sound card. If you have working audio from the I/O on the mobo I would not stress. Often times those lead's when connected pick up interference from other components. I know most people dont use the front audio ports for that reason, unless the lead is well insulated and can provide a alternative to the soundcard or onboard mobo audio jacks.
So all in all it looks like a digital input, and unless the mobo or sound card has support for that its useless

I'd just like to make sure everything works the way it's supposed to. Some people might not want to use the ports, but some will.

 

[Slavegamer]

I would refer to the mobo specs , or the sound card specs. If there is not an option for that lead connection then there is nothing you can do . It is also possible that it was a option for HD Audio, or possibly designed to attach to a usb header... wait

I just popped off my case panel to look at the port connection for audio jacks up front. It is labeled HD AUDIO , and it looks like a usb header that would connect to the mobo except the pins line up different than a usb . I would look for the user manula for that mobo to find out more about HD audio inputs

 

[Slavegamer]

Here is what I am talking about . This comes from the front audio jack and says HD audio . Not sure if you have the lead wires like this in a bundle .
I used to have a audio card with a plug in for this , but I chose not to use it because I could not find proper drivers for win 7.

 

[DMB06]

Here is what I am talking about . This comes from the front audio jack and says HD audio . Not sure if you have the lead wires like this in a bundle .
I used to have a audio card with a plug in for this , but I chose not to use it because I could not find proper drivers for win 7.

The front panel has two USB 2.0 ports, a headphone port and a mic port. The USB ports are connected to the motherboard and work fine, the headphone/mic connectors leading from the front panel are the only thing not hooked up in the case. They aren't neatly arranged in a convenient plug like you have, they are just five individual tiny connectors, each one meant for one pin. Here, I took some pictures.

Here are the five individual connectors:



On the lower left you can see the group of pins:

 

[DMB06]

Here's a link to the relevant page in my manual. Scroll down a tiny bit and you'll see the Internal Connectors section.


http://www.manualslib.com/manual/432283/Asus-M4a88t-M-Usb3.html?page=33

 

[Paul NZ]

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-015851.htm

 

[DMB06]

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/CS-015851.htm

Thanks for the link, but it doesn't really clarify where I need to put these five connectors. It does provide some useful information though, so I'll select this as the answer.

 

[Paul NZ]

Try this

 

[Slavegamer]

Yah I see that, much like mine only its not on one solid plug, its split but Im sure its the same thing. Im sure just like me you have it unplugged because there is no video card to plug it into .The pins you show on the mobo are jumper pins I believe. Here is what that connection is ment for .

here you see a sound card with its aux input , this is where you would connect that to .. if you had a sound card


full image , bottom left is the aux input


A sound card like this also has options to direct connect a dvd player for hi def audio , same concept


Here you also see a aux input for audio (3rd from left input you see,also if you look there is also one for a cd player left of the tad plug. this is where those pins would go .

 

[Slavegamer]

Also I forgot to mention that , in that manual for your mobo , unless there is a input/output for a auxiliary audio connection clearly labeled. There probably is not one on that mobo

 

[Paul NZ]

You dont plug that into a videocard